Thermal properties of pineapple leaf fiber reinforced composites

Simultaneous measurment of effective thermal conductivity (lambda) and effective thermal diffusivity (K) of pineapple leaf fiber reinforced phenolformaldehyde (PF) composites have been studied by transient plane source (TPS) technique. The samples of different weight percentage typically (15, 20, 30, 40 and 50%) have been taken. It is found that of effective thermal conductivity and effective thermal diffusivity of the composites decrease, as compared with pure PF as the fraction of fiber loading increases. Using Y. Agari, model thermal conductivity of pure fiber is evaluated and compared with the thermal conductivity of fiber determined by extrapolated experimental value of composite. Also, we have compared the results of thermal conductivity of composites with two models (Rayleigh-Maxwell and Meredith-Tobias model). Good agreement between theoretical and experimental result has been found. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.